The metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte city is home to several high-risk areas with a significant number of mass movement occurrences. Additionally, there are cases of movements in areas that are not considered high-risk, where constructions exhibit a medium to high construction standard. This emphasizes that, in addition to disordered occupations, the terrains have a natural susceptibility to the process. Intervention in slopes through cuts and fills is an unquestionable necessity in geotechnical projects to reinforce unstable or damaged areas. This article explores the field of soil nailing and presents the necessary design practices for its utilization, including safety checks based on deterministic, probabilistic, and finite element analysis. The case study is based in Belo Horizonte, more specifically in the 'Buritis' neighborhood, Brazil. The reinforced slope has a height of 18.5 meters and covers a total area of 1425 square meters. Based on different methodologies, the solution was validated as the most technically feasible, executable, and financially viable.

Cyclic loading of deep foundations and soil anchorage elements can lead to failure by accumulation of deformations or loss of strength. Snakeskin-inspired surfaces have been shown to mobilize direction-dependent friction angles and volumetric responses due to their asymmetric profile. This paper presents an investigation on the cyclic interface element behavior of sand-structure interfaces with snakeskin-inspired surfaces with the goal of understanding the potential impact of these surfaces on the cyclic behavior of geotechnical elements. Load- and displacement-controlled cyclic interface shear tests were performed with constant stiffness boundary conditions. Four different snakeskin-inspired surfaces and reference rough and smooth surfaces were tested. The results show that under symmetric shear stress cycles, failure always takes place in the caudal direction (i.e. along the scales) due to the smaller interface friction angles. A shear stress bias can produce a change in the failure direction to the cranial one (i.e., against the scales). An equation is introduced to predict the magnitude of shear stress bias that changes the failure direction. This investigation shows that the snakeskin-inspired surfaces can be used to control the direction of failure of soil-structure interface elements which can help in increasing the cyclic stability and reducing the susceptibility of brittle failure.

Coal-bearing soil slopes are associated with a high risk of landslides when subjected to high soil water content. Steel bars have been used as soil nailing for slope stabilization; however, corrosion may occur in an aggressive environment. Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) bars have higher resistance to corrosion and could be alternatives to steel bars, but their elastic modulus and bonding strength with cement concrete are inferior to steel bars, which may result in lower reinforcement effects against landslides and hence require further investigation. In this study, the mechanical properties of different types of bars were investigated using tensile tests. The mineral composition of the soil samples was analyzed. Subsequently, pull-out tests were conducted on three types of bars (steel, GFRP, and BFRP) embedded in grouts in the soil. Up to 38 test scenarios were investigated, and the results were statistically analyzed using an analysis of variance test. The effects of several factors were studied, including the bar type, water content, soil compaction degree, and soil surcharge. The results showed that the bar type had an insignificant effect on the maximum pull-out loads, indicating the feasibility of using GFRP and BFRP bars as alternatives to steel bars for soil nailing in coal-bearing soil slopes. The reinforcement effect can be weakened by rainfall or drought events and enhanced by higher compaction energy and surcharge loads.